It’s hard to imagine, to me, how “we the people” could have allowed this country to devolve to where it sits today with, what appears to be, a mob boss in the “White House” with a cult-like following that seems way too similar to what happened in 1930’s Germany. While we survived that scare back during WW II, it remains to be seen how we do with the present “scare.” Case in point, I’m writing in late February, about 9 months before “we the people” have the opportunity to end this NIGHTMARE at the polls, and it was reported tonight that last week the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) sent a surrogate to report to the House Intelligence Committee about the reality the Russians are AGAIN “interfering” on individual 1’s behalf ALREADY as we prepare for the 2020 election. Furthermore, as I’ve predicted already, the Russians are attempting to intervene in the democratic primaries to cause confusion and frustration with America’s voting public – a brazen attempt to skew the results in a way favorable to individual 1.

And, I, personally, don’t think it’s just the Russians – I believe individual 1’s campaign is busy with their own misinformation campaign (Just listen to one of his rallies) and, additionally, I believe they are attempting to infiltrate and undermine the democratic nominating process. Individual 1 is a CHEATER, pure and simple. It’s as if the Russians have worked as the mentors for individual 1’s campaign staffers. Are they working in tandem? Well, they covered it up well during the 2016 campaign and seem to believe they can do it again.

But, getting back to tonight’s news, where the intelligence community verified the worst fears of people like me, the results were totally predictable. Individual 1 FIRED the DNI and appointed a totally unqualified sycophant as the “temporary” replacement – therefore, no Senate confirmation process – and, they reassigned the actual CIA agent who gave the presentation to the Committee – and, by the way, from the reports I’ve heard so far, the republicans on the Committee received this NEWS with a “ho hum.” Yikes! Why were these people fired? Well, have you been paying attention to individual 1’s “revenge tour?” (Susan Collins?) They told the TRUTH! Just try to imagine yourself working in our intelligence community right now!

I’ve said this many times to this point, but if “we the people” don’t vote this thug out of the “White House” we deserve what we end up with – it’s just that so many Americans are either not informed, MISINFORMED, apathetic, or just don’t care leading to individual 1 maintaining an “approval rating” which stays somewhere between 40% and 45% depending on the poll and the moment in time. I believe this is why so many democrats believe Mike Bloomberg is the best candidate to take down individual 1 because he can mount such a sophisticated media assault on our so-called president. My belief is (and, I hope I’m correct) Bloomberg can use his money whether he’s the candidate or not – to support the eventual goal which is to defeat individual 1. And, Tom Steyer (who I MUCH prefer to Bloomberg if democrats must rely on a BILLIONAIRE to win back the “White House”) hopefully will chip in his share as well – in fact, with Steyer, there’s no question, he’s been doing this for YEARS! I guess you would call this fighting fire with fire. (There’s only so much space on the airwaves – it appears the media outlets have, again, got what they wanted – they’re going to haul in a boatload of money in this year’s election!)

It bothers me when democrats attack “Billionaires” because, personally, I have no problem with someone who has a lot of money. To me, it depends on what they do with their money which matters – and, at this point in America’s history where we have an authoritarian (mob like boss) attempting to undermine the very constitution we all depend on – we need EVERY Billionaire to join the FIGHT to preserve this nation as a country based on the rule of law – the belief we “are a nation of laws and not men.” (That’s what allowed them to get where they are) Yes, there are a plethora of really rich Americans who want to see individual 1 remain in the “White House” because they cherish their wealth more than fealty to our constitution. However, in my view, they don’t have a full grasp on history and what portends nations who continue to create wealth disparity where the bottom continues to grow and the top continues to shrink. (I relation to the bottom, of course the top is increasing, but not close to how the “bottom” is increasing – picture a pyramid in your mind)

That would be the exact “formula” taught by philosophers like Karl Marx when they predicted about how capitalism destroys itself from the inside out. (My phraseology – it’s been many years since I studied Marx when I was in college – the first time :o) America’s “experiment” with self rule has worked for well over 200 years and EVERY time we’ve come to a place such as this in our History “we the people” have come out stronger on the “other side.” My sense of optimism tells me that is what will happen in this CRISIS, but I’m hoping it happens with individual 1 getting the opportunity to defend himself in court come February of next year and the process of IMPEACHING him – at the polls – is peaceful. Should he win, I may not live long enough to see the “other side.” I have a granddaughter who’s in High School and is genuinely afraid of what lies ahead.

Not only does she fear what “could be” should individual 1 “win” again (with Putin’s help AGAIN), but the issue of Climate Change seems to be on the “back burner” as democratic candidates fight amongst themselves for the nomination. Personally, my hope is these candidates can remind themselves of who their focus should be on – individual 1 – and less on each other during their debates. Although, I have to admit I was happy to see Elizabeth Warren, who I consider the smartest of the candidates running for the democratic nomination, a bit feisty in the Nevada debate. I guess it took Bloomberg on the stage to get her “going.” What I don’t like is listening to pundits using the “traditional” fear tactics to suggest whoever the democratic primary voters pick won’t be able to beat individual 1 unless it’s someone like Bloomberg. Here’s what democrats need to win: UNITY!

The FACT the Russians are “at it again” – we all knew this was happening – in fact, if you watched Robert Mueller testify after he published his report (which, by the way, I read twice – I recommend EVERY American read it) you saw him say they were “at it as we speak” and then added “They’re going to do the same thing in the 2020 election” (or words to that effect). This isn’t a surprise, what is a surprise is the brazenous of individual 1 and the silence coming from our Congress. Not only in relation to these revelations about the Russians, but also to his BRAZEN OBSTRUCTION of our Judicial system – REPEATEDLY. Once individual 1 got his “Roy Cohn” in charge of the Justice Department, “we the people” were one step closer to an autocracy. I’ve said here many times I consider William Barr to be almost as DANGEROUS as individual 1 himself. Barr not only allows this OBSTRUCTION, he actually ENCOURAGES it! Wow!!!

Barr was the one who “cut off the legs” of Mueller’s report the very day it was published with a 4 page “memo” packed full of LIES. (What else would you expect from someone in individual 1’s “orbit”) Barr has been leading the “charge” to “investigate the investigators” despite an IG report confirming the Russian Investigation was initiated on solid “grounds.” The IG (Inspector General of the Justice Department) claimed there were issues with the Carter Page FISA process (and, by the way, by that time, Page was not even a part of individual 1’s campaign – he had been a suspected “useful idiot” of the Russians for years) but, the actual “Russia investigation” was well predicated. So, now Barr is INTERFERING with the prosecutions emanating from the Mueller investigation, most notably, the Roger Stone case and, likely, Michael Flynn.

Barr is like a “toady” for individual 1 but seems oblivious to what he’s doing to his own reputation and that of the Justice Department. Today, the judge in the Stone case gave a BLISTERING rebuke of individual 1 and, by extension, Mr. Barr as she gave Stone a sentence of 40 months in prison – far less than what was originally recommended. But, Stone is pushing for a “new trial” and should he fail in getting one, by all accounts, individual 1 has been emboldened enough (did you read that Susan Collins?) to actually pardon Stone before he spends one day in prison. This is NOT going to end well.

I listened to one former Justice Department lawyer, tonight, explain there’s something like – well actually I forget – it was MANY thousands of prisoners in America’s jails and he listed the 11 individual 1 chose to pardon. Rod Blagojevitch was accused of CRIMES very similar to what individual 1 was impeached for – and, there seemed to be a “message” with each pardon. Trust me, the recipients were mostly white collar rich people who were pardoned. Evidently, there was one person of color pardoned at the request of Kim Kardashian? What the…………………

Clearly, the rule of law means NOTHING to individual 1. He’s the classic mob boss. He’s truly trying to be like Vladimir Putin. Shame on “we the people” if we allow him to continue on this vendetta on our system of government. The news tonight SHOULD get the attention of EVERY American, but, when it’s reported the republicans listening to the Intelligence report were NOT outraged, to me, says it all. (Apparently, they – Devin Nunes et al – went immediately to individual 1 to “tattle”) This problem is bigger than individual 1 – it’s the ENTIRE republican party. People across America need to flock to the polls in record numbers to vote every republican we can out of office. I’m fine with “conservative” v “liberal” dialogue – but, these people are NOT conservatives. They portray themselves as such because there’s so many Americans who either watch Fox “news” or just don’t read, or worse yet, don’t care. Individual 1 and his sycophants, at a minimum, are neo Nazi’s! What’s the saying? “Come on man!”

And, of course as I’ve said here many times, those of us in America who consider ourselves “progressives” or – for shame – “liberals,” we have to depend on the democratic party to push this authoritarian mob boss out of the “White House.” In addition, and make no mistake, we are dependent on the so-called “liberal media” – which, apparently, is MSNBC and CNN (I don’t watch CNN but my daughter does and suggests they provide REAL information – to get individual 1 and the rest of this version of the republican party into the History books. And, that is a tall mountain to climb. The democrats are tripping all over each other as TOO many decide it’s their “time to shine” and they end up arguing amongst themselves instead of putting ALL their focus on individual 1 and allowing “we the people” to choose the BEST candidate. If the democrats running for president don’t remind you of the republicans in 2016, well, to me, it’s “deja vu all over again.”

So now, at this point in time, it’s appearing Bernie Sanders is very close to “claiming” the nomination and, oh my, listening to the pundits would be humorous if this wasn’t such a serious situation. As I said above, the formula for success for democrats is EASY to figure out – it’s UNITY. Well, Sanders claims to be a “democratic socialist” – which, to me, puts him right next to FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt (one of my all time favorite Americans), and the others who put the “New Deal” together back during the “Great Depression,” along with JFK and LBJ. (That, to me, is good company. Apparently back then democrats referred to their leaders by their initials :o) Sanders is NOT a “socialist” along the lines of a Marxist – although, you can “bet your bottom dollar” that’s how individual 1 and Vladimir Putin will portray him. If democrats UNITE it won’t matter what individual 1 or Putin have to say. I.E. “There’s more of us than there are of them.”

A couple of times, now, while listening to MSNBC as I’m driving around I’ve heard Steve Schmidt, who is often a guest on their network, portray Bernie as someone who wants to take health care away from 150 MILLION Americans – and, no one – so far – has challenged him on that absurd statement. In fact, today I heard Susan Del Percio make the same (ABSURD) statement, again, with no “blow back.” Both Schmidt and Del Percio are what I call disaffected republicans and, I believe, it’s important to hear their points of view, but not without a response when what they say is absurd and it’s like they’re spewing republican talking points. I’ve said this many times – “We the people” have been the recipients of fear mongering for decades – it’s time to quit allowing this garbage to rule the day.

Bernie Sanders is a LIBERAL, pure and simple. And, he’s not taking health care away from anyone – should he succeed in passing “Medicare for all” legislation. At that point in time EVERYONE in America would have health care as a RIGHT! I really find it hard to understand how people like Schmidt and Del Percio (and trust me, MILLIONS more) find it “radical” to think everyone in America deserves health care. Republicans have been fighting this since the days of FDR – pure and simple, the reason there are something close to 90 MILLION Americans without health insurance is because of republicans. (And, of course, Joe Lieberman – ie the so-called public option when the ACA was enacted – Lieberman “torpedoed” it)

Personally, my ONLY concern with Bernie Sanders is he’s 78 years old and he just had a heart attack. Therefore, his choice for Vice President will be of paramount importance should he become the nominee. All these democrats who are acting like the sky is falling because Bernie has emerged from the first three primaries as the front runner, in my view, need to shut up. I love James Carville, but I really wish he’d shut up and just allow the voters to decide who they want and then get 110% behind whoever that may be.

I’ve already said here, if, for some reason, democratic primary voters start running scared and choose Michael Bloomberg – despite the more I see of him the more I believe he’d be a terrible candidate to run against individual 1 – I will vote for him. Whoever the voters choose! UNITY!!! I’ve been polled several times and my first two choices (after Cory Booker dropped out) have been Elizabeth Warren and Tom Steyer. Personally, I don’t think democratic voters, for instance, understand what Steyer’s been doing – I guess behind the scenes – for, at least, the past 10 years. I discovered him when he initiated the IMPEACHMENT movement in the first year of individual 1’s term in office. And, I’ve said here many times, I, personally, consider Senator Warren as the smartest candidate in the field.

So, what we’re up against – I’m speaking of “we the people” – is another election where (at least) the Russians will be surreptitiously working to re-elect individual 1 who, I believe according to what I’ve read about how the Russians operate, they consider a “useful idiot.” Of course, many Americans – including many who have worked for him – simply consider him to be an “idiot.” Of course, it was made public that Rex Tillerson AND James Mattis both referred to him – on separate occasions – as a “fucking moron.” I, personally, try not to use that kind of language, but this has been confirmed in multiple books I’ve read. Right now I’m reading “A VERY STABLE GENIUS Individual 1’s Testing of America” by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig (Of course, in the title they use our so-called president’s real name, I just can’t force myself to write it) and the book makes it clear (as did many other books I’ve read) the “White House” has received a “tongue lashing” of “F bombs” since individual 1 moved in.

Of course, I’m not suggesting a candidate for president should have a moral test based on their use of expletives, but I am suggesting a so-called president who is referred to by those who have worked with him/her as some form of “idiot” following adjectives which are considered “words you can’t say on TV is a problem – a MAJOR problem. Leaders around the world are on the edge of their “seats” awaiting the “verdict” from November’s election. America’s spiral “downward” will accelerate if “we the people” are so STUPID as to keep this thug in office. The only people enjoying what is happening in America – a country bitterly divided – is Russia, because they’ve been sowing the division. Putin is succeeding in “making Russia great again” at the expense of “we the people.” He’s sowing this division throughout the Western world and, under normal circumstances, it would be America standing up to him. He’s using our open society against us in an attempt to destroy the “American experiment!” Yikes!!!

The reports of the Russians “interfering again” also suggested, as I had predicted, they are involved in attempting to manipulate the democratic primary process in Bernie’s favor. I don’t do Facebook, but apparently Social Media in general and Facebook in particular is where the Russians focus their ATTACK. It was reported the Russians are working to help Bernie get the nomination, just as they did back in 2016 – at the time it was reported (at least in Mueller’s report) because of Putin’s hatred of Mrs. Clinton. To what degree the Russians manage to get “involved” this year remains to be seen – and, if individual 1 “wins” again, we’ll likely NEVER know what the Russians were “up to.”

I have to wonder if the Russian’s support for Bernie is because they believe they can help undermine his candidacy with their deluge of misinformation prior to the election to help individual 1. Remember, and I believe via this inference, the Russians have the same Facebook data which was “mined” by Cambridge Analytica back in 2016. That involves 87 MILLION Americans. Look out in 2020! They also have CA’s analysis of that data. If you use Facebook, trust me, between the Russians and individual 1’s digital media support staff you’re going to be BLASTED with a strategically mounted “mountain of LIES.” And, with people like Steve Schmidt and Susan Del Percio among other “moderates” adding to the LIES, it could create the “perfect storm” for individual 1 to “win” again.

That being said, I have a son who is 30. He’s NEVER voted before and has NEVER shown an inclination to want to vote. The other day he said to me, “I might even go register to vote, I want to vote for Bernie.” Well, the primary ballots were sitting on our kitchen table and I said to him, “You are registered and there’s a primary ballot right here.” (He registered when he was 18 and had just never bothered to vote. In our state, Washington, the governor is trying to get more people voting instead of less – like in, for example, Georgia, or Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania, or etc.) He grabbed the ballot and, hopefully, he’ll vote in the primary election. And, he’s excited to vote for Bernie and tells me EVERY one in his peer group feels the same way.

Final Thought: I’ve said from the beginning of the process on this election where “we the people” have the opportunity to do what the Republican Senate refused to do and that, of course, is to REMOVE individual 1 from office. This question almost comes down to the idea of do you want to be like the “New Deal” vision of America or the “Russia” vision of America. We’ve allowed this country to merge too close to the Russian version – rule by oligarchy. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in particular are saying “ENOUGH.” They want to push back, they want to focus the investment of this country’s great wealth on her people and not on the corporations who continue to pillage the taxpayers.

It’s a simple question, “Which vision do you want?” And, the answer should be obvious, but as has been stated by many much smarter than me, too many Americans have been brainwashed into voting against their own self interests – by the likes of Fox “news,” online outlets like Breitbart.com, and radio air-wave bloviators like Rush Limbaugh. There’s been a focused ATTACK on “we the people” by the wealthy few in America using the strategy of the Nazi’s – “The Big Lie Theory” – for the past 40+ years. It all goes back to the so-called “Powell memo” in the early 1970’s when America’s wealthy elite decided they had had “enough” of the “New Deal.”

The ATTACK on ordinary Americans has come largely from republicans, but the democrats have never seemed to understand the FIGHT “we the people” were in. Slowly democrats were drawn toward the “right” until now someone like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren is considered “radical” by the pundits – when, in reality, they’re not radical at all. If you liked John F. Kennedy, or Franklin Roosevelt you should have NO fear of either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren!